Football: Neuheisel knows challenges facing CU Buffs

The first of the Neuheisel Bowls this season will be contested on Saturday when UCLA visits Colorado at Folsom Field.

Rick Neuheisel, who left CU after the 1998 season to take the Washington job, was fired as the head Bruin and replaced this season by Jim Mora Jr.

The Pac-12 Network wisely hired Neuheisel as a football analyst. The former Bruins quarterback has been the head coach at 25 percent of the conference's programs.

Neuheisel, who coached Jon Embree's son Taylor at UCLA, had some interesting things to say about the state of the Buffs program last week on a podcast at FOXSportsArizona.com.

CU was 0-3 at the time and had not delivered its breakthrough win at Washington State.

"The South (Division) is a wild, wild shootout," said Neuheisel, whose Bruins advanced to the inaugural Pac-12 championship game last season thanks to CU's win at Utah and USC being ineligible for the postseason. "I think every team, aside from Colorado, has a chance to win it."

The Buffs (1-3, 1-0) are on top of the South Division standings but are 20-point underdogs against the Bruins (3-1, 0-1).

CU's 69-14 loss at Fresno State reminded Neuheisel of the era just before Bill McCartney was hired. The Buffs lost 56-14 at UCLA to start the 1980 season and finished 1-10 that season under Chuck Fairbanks.

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"They've got a long way to go. Having coached at Colorado, I'm familiar with some of the challenges that exist there," Neuheisel said. "I go back to 1980, I was a redshirt freshman at UCLA and we played Colorado in the Coliseum, this was before UCLA moved to the Rose Bowl. We were ahead of Colorado 56-to-nothing at halftime.

"That's kind of what was the case in this last week's game at Fresno. Colorado had given up over 500 yards of offense in the first half. I mean, the naysayers will say it's over, dispair sets in and we can never come back from that. But the fact of the matter is Colorado won the national championship 11 years later."

In other words, Neuheisel believe Embree and his staff can win at CU if given enough time.

The blue print is out there.

"Jon Embree was there for the plan as Bill McCartney took over the program and built it brick by brick," Neuheisel said. "That's what they have to have the patience to do. Eleven years sounds like a long time, but the fact of the matter is that if you recruit, both the states of California and Texas, you're going to be fine. You have to do a good job of evaluating players, you have to do a good job of developing them once they get there, and then you have to have patience and a plan to go forward.

"Hopefully the powers that be will have that kind of foresight to build that thing back."

Bruins find a QB

Ironically, Neuheisel's biggest problem during his four seasons as UCLA's coach was finding the right quarterback. Inconsistency and injuries at the position he played were major factors in the coach's a 21-29 record at his alma mater.

Mora Jr. inherited Brett Hundley, who has already set a UCLA record as the only quarterback in program history to throw for 300 or more yards in three consecutive games. The redshirt freshman is seventh national and second in the Pac-12 in passing (299.75 ypg).

"Rick felt like he was going to be the quarterback of the future, and there is no doubt about it," Embree said. "He is the guy that could help them win a Pac-12 Championship. He is a heck of a player, he is going to be really good before it is all said and done."

Role reversals

Nick Kasa's 70-yard touchdown at Washington State was the first of his career. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound tight end switched to offense from defensive end with five games remaining in the 2011 season.

Will Pericak, the defensive tackle Kasa lined up next to for three years, has now moved to defensive end. Pericak was recruited by CU as a tight end.

"I've always said Nick could be a really good tight end," Pericak said. "He's really got the build and the prototypical body type for it."

Kasa was a four-star prospect coming out of Legacy High School in Broomfield when he chose the Buffs over Florida in 2009 because the Gators wanted to switch him from the defensive line to the offensive line. Pericak was lightly recruited three-star prospect coming out of Boulder High School.

"Those stars, they really don't mean anything, and I think most players here realize that," Pericak said. "Stars are about as bogus as you can get."

Respect for Osborne

Legendary former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne announced on Wednesday that he will be retiring as the athletic director in Lincoln at the end of the year.

Embree, who played tight end for Bill McCartney, obviously helped get the rivalry jump-started as the Buffs upset Nebraska in 1986 for their first win in the series since 1967.

"He's done a lot of great things," Embree said of Osborne. "He's synonymous with that N on that helmet."

Athletic director Mike Bohn played football at Kansas and was a Big 12 peer of Osborne's before CU left for the Pac-12 and Nebraska left for the Big Ten.

"I was really disappointed because Tom Osborne, since my time of competing against him as a player and obviously an athletic director and having him in the business, he's always been first class," Bohn said. "I've always had incredible respect for him."

Notable

Embree said every player who doesn't have an academic commitment on Thursday night will attend the "Parade of Buffs" event at the Broomfield Events Center. ... UCLA is the surprise Pac-12 leader in total offense (577.5 ypg) through four games, ahead of Oregon (571.0 ypg). ... Despite Mora Jr.'s reputation as a defensive coach, the Bruins are currently ninth in the conference in total defense (421.5 ypg).

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